Former Syrian political prisoners have recalled the horrors of being detained and tortured under Assad's regime and expressed happiness over the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad dynasty in Syria.
Omar Alshogre, a human rights advocate who was detained and tortured for three years in Assad's notorious Sednaya prison, told the ABC's The World program that there is unprecedented joy in his home country.
"This family has been in power for 50 years. They have tortured, they have starved, they have killed and displaced millions of Syrians. There is nothing that could bring a Syrian more joy than the fall of this family."
Mr Alshogre, who is now living in Sweden, told The World about the "miserable" conditions he and other prisoners experienced in Syria.
"Under torture, they force you to give false confessions and torture includes things like pulling out your fingernails and hanging from the ceiling … Under torture, you were not allowed to scream.
"Imagine the guard coming in to your room of 35 prisoners and telling you you have to choose a few to be executed tomorrow … We have to choose who of us is going to be executed."
'They break your soul'
Former Syrian prisoner and co-founder of the Ta'afi Initiative Ahmad Helmi said the downfall of Assad's regime is a liberating and historic moment.
"I can't express enough how happy I am at the moment. The mere fact that Human Rights Watch and some other UN entities are going to Syria tomorrow, after 14 years of being blocked from being the watchdog on the violations during the the reign of the Assad regime, is fantastic."
Mr Helmi, who now lives in the Netherlands, was detained for three years in nine different prisons in Syria. He told The World that the torture he experienced while imprisoned was designed to be soul-destroying.
"They try to break your soul. They use torture, sexual violence and all kind of psychological violence and torture to break your soul, to break who you are.
"I am free and I'm released, but it makes a scar in your soul — just the mere fact that you were tortured by another human being … only today that scar is starting to heal."
Mr Helmi said while he has some "concerns" about Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that spearheaded the offensive to oust the regime, he is optimistic about Syria's next chapter.
"If the new government or the new leaders commit the same crimes and do not respect human rights, we will break them down," Mr Helmi said.
"We will keep a close eye on them."
'The road to justice is shorter than ever before'
Former Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and his family have reportedly fled to Russia.
Mr Alshogre told The World he is hopeful that the former leader will face justice for his regime marked by decades of fear, surveillance, and murder.
"The road to justice is shorter than ever before. Even though [Assad] is in Russia, I think at some point we'll be able to grab a hold of him and bring him to justice," he said.
Mr Alshogre said he is hopeful of democracy being restored to Syria.
"Regardless of what group came and won this war, what the Syrians are heading for is an election. That's what we want. That's what we're going to fight for.
"I think there's a lot of potential for Syria, a lot of hope. And as long as the Syrians are working hard to make sure democracy is achieved, we will have it."
Mr Alshogre said he is looking forward to returning home to Syria and reuniting with loved ones.
"I love my hometown. I miss my grandma … I'm very excited for the day to be able to return to my home, to the house where I grew up. Even though it's burned, we will rebuild it. So I will definitely return."
